Remote Ubuntu install guide

[Gorlist]

This tutorial is based from the following URLs which ive modified to work with my root 1and1 server. Im afraid I won't be able to provide a great deal of troubleshooting support.

http://sbmonkey.wordpress.com/2008/0...by-step-guide/
http://www.howtoforge.com/minimal-ub...server-install

Hopefully this tutorial will guide you through a successful install of Ubuntu Linux on your server platform with your own custom partition sizes, and without relying on a predefined 1and1 image.

Please make sure all data is backed up prior to attempting, including your psa.key if you intend to reinstall Plesk.

Reboot into recovery mode from the 1and1 control panel (e.g. Linux 64-bit Rescue System (debian/etch - 2.6.x)), this will boot your dedicated server into a ram mode. Login to it via ssh.

apt-get update
apt-get install nano

(or use vim)

Lets remove our out of date debootstrap and install a newer revision.

apt-get remove debootstrap
wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/d/debootstrap/debootstrap_1.0.13_all.deb
dpkg -i debootstrap_1.0.13_all.deb

Delete all, and any existing partitions (either using cfdisk or fdisk):

cfdisk /dev/sda
fdisk /dev/sda

Setup partitions as follows for example:
/dev/sda1 - 100MB (boot & flag as bootable)
/dev/sda2 - 4096MB (swap)
/dev/sda3 - remaining disk space (/)

mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda1
mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda3
mkswap /dev/sda2

mkdir /min
mount /dev/sda3 /min
mkdir /min/boot
mount /dev/sda1 /min/boot

Before running Debootstrap, if you want to change the mirrors edit:

nano /usr/share/debootstrap/scripts/hardy

Lets begin the instillation:

debootstrap hardy /min

Setup our hostname and network.

echo "myservername" > /min/etc/hostname
echo "127.0.0.1 localhost" > /min/etc/hosts
echo "127.0.1.1 myservername" > /min/etc/hosts

nano /min/etc/network/interfaces

Copy and paste the following:

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

Setup our fstab:

nano /min/etc/fstab

Copy and paste:

/dev/sda1 /boot ext3 defaults 0 1
/dev/sda2 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/sda3 / ext3 defaults 0 1

Mount & enter the chroot enviroment:

mount --bind /dev /min/dev
mount -t proc proc /min/proc
mount -t sysfs sysfs /min/sys
chroot /min

Setup our timezone:

tzselect

Install nano:

apt-get install nano

Edit the sources list again if you wish to change mirrors:

nano /etc/apt/sources.list

apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade

Set our root password (or leave blank to deactivate? - make sure you add a user):

passwd

And/Or:

adduser myusername
addgroup admin
adduser myusername admin
echo "%admin ALL=(ALL) ALL" >> /etc/sudoers

Now for gurb:

apt-get install linux-image-server grub
mkdir /boot/grub
update-grub
update-initramfs -u

Install our ssh server:

aptitude install openssh-server

And finish:

exit

grub-install --root-directory=/min --no-floppy --recheck /dev/sda

Reboot system into normal mode through your control panel, and connect normally through putty.

[Gorlist]

For a Ubuntu 8.04 source list: http://repogen.simplylinux.ch

------
Plesk specific, you may want to add usrquota to your fstab:

/dev/sda3 / ext3 defaults,usrquota 0 1

Then install quota:

sudo apt-get install quota

It should automatically check your harddrives if done in that order, though if not do as follows:

sudo quotaoff -av
sudo quotacheck -avum
sudo quotaon -av

And reboot (you may need to remount the harddrive if you've not rebooted since adjusting the fstab before running the above.

On the mini Ubuntu install you might get perl locale errors, if so try the following:

sudo apt-get install language-pack-en

[Gorlist]

Still working fine with Ubuntu 12.04LTS, however this time I used Lenny (few teething problems with the 1and1 recovery image being so out of date).

Make sure you use the latest Debootstrap, Ext4 on SDA3, and obviously precise instead of hardy.

Plesk 11 installation no problems, however I preformed a complete backup of the stock 1and1 Plesk 11 install, then restored the license (saved having to phone them). Don't forget to harden your server.